The government, announced on Thursday, that married gay couples will be able to file joint federal tax returns even if they reside in a state that doesn’t allow same-sex marriage.

The new ruling, issued by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, will allow same-sex married couples to move to different areas of the nation and still be recognized as married. The rules only identify gay couples that have been married in an area where it is legal, including U.S. territories, foreign nations and the District of Columbia. The ruling will acknowledge all married same-sex couples as married for federal tax purposes. This includes income, gift and estate taxes. The ruling also affects all federal tax provisions where marriage has an affect, including taxpayer’s filing status, personal exemptions, dependent exemptions and standard deductions, reports The Seattle Times.

The ruling affects over 130,000 married, same-sex couples in America, who will have to use the married filing jointly or married filing separately status for 2013’s taxes. Read

On Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department announced that it would not contest laws legalizing limited marijuana use passed by voters in the two states last year. Attorney General Eric Holder reportedly warned the governors of Colorado and Washington that the federal government could reverse that decision if the states failed to impose proper regulations governing pot sales, the Wall Street Journal notes.

The DOJ’s decision is likely to give a boost of legalization proponents in other states. Read

Aetna (AET), the third-biggest health insurer in the country, says that it will not take part in New York state’s health insurance exchange. The company has withdrawn from health care exchanges in five states in recent months and is still determining which state health exchanges it ultimately with participate in, Reuters noted.

Despite delays getting insurer agreements in place, state health exchanges remain scheduled to launch on October 1 and are expected to provide health insurance coverage to 7 million currently-uninsured Americans in their first year of operation. Read

Another nationwide strike by fast-food workers at chains such as McDonald’s (MCD) raises a number of important questions, though the one on most InvestorPlace readers’ minds is probably “How does this issue affect investors?”

It’s difficult to answer this question without examining the minimum wage issue itself, as the investment angle is wrapped up in the very DNA of labor issues.
Both Sides of Minimum Wage

The dairy industry is pressuring the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to alter milk’s “standard of identity” to permit the addition of reduced-calorie sweeteners without the need for labeling. Under current law, adding artificial ingredients like sucralose or aspartame requires manufacturers to signal their presence to consumers on the label, Boston’s WCVB notes.

If the FDA adopts the proposal, milk with artificial sweeteners wouldn’t be labeled as “reduced-sugar” milk, but just as milk. Read

Just when you though Anthony Weiner’s bid to become New York City’s next mayor couldn’t get any stranger, one local newspaper says he is paying … for people to attend campaign events.

The embattled former congressman hired actors to cheer for him at New York’s Dominican Day Parade, earlier this month, the New York Post alleges. The paper says the actors were hired by Crowds on Demand, whose name is self-explanatory, and were paid $15 an hour to pretend they supported Weiner.

According to sources, Weiner’s campaign retained the California-based company to bump up the apparent number of his supporters at events in the wake of new allegations that he has continued improper text-based relationships with other women. He reportedly asked the company to have its employees confront hecklers, but it declined. Read

There’s no doubt that money and politics are very intertwined these days. InvestorPolitics was created to filter through the conventional media noise, serve up some of the most important policy issues of the day and explain how they could impact your personal finances and your retirement.

InvestorPolitics is an open forum for your opinions on the big political issues that affect investors and the broader economy. You will hopefully find a wide array of commentary — some you agree with and some you disagree with — as we aim to represent all points of view.

Most importantly, we want to hear what YOU have to say. We welcome you to respectfully engage with our contributors in the comment section of each InvestorPolitics post. And if there are issues you feel particularly passionate about, please send your thoughts to letters@investorplace.com and we will consider publishing your submission as an article. Letters must be less than 500 words and include your name and state of residence.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of our writers and do not reflect the views of InvestorPlace Media, LLC or those of our partners.